1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a key button mechanism and particularly to an electronic device equipped with the key button mechanism.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With rapid development of information technology, electronic devices, such as cellular phones, personal digital assistant (PDA), and so on, are become more and more popular. For conventional electronic devices, buttons may be arranged on two side surfaces of the electronic devices, hereinafter referred to as side-buttons, and configured for providing command shortcuts. For example, the side-buttons can be used for receiving a call, adjusting sound volume, and so on. Side-button designs significantly contribute to easier operations of the electronic devices.
The general side-buttons of the electronic devices can be sliding structure or pressing structure. For the sliding structure, the side-button slides along a sliding groove to activate or deactivate switches of the electronic devices. However, it is difficult to cover this kind of sliding groove, and thus may affect the overall appearance of the electronic devices. As a result, the side-button with pressing structure is more practical than the sliding structure.
Conventional side-buttons include an operating body, a flexible board, and a mounting portion for mounting the flexible board thereon. The mounting portion is arranged on a side surface of an electronic device. When assembled, one end of the flexible board is soldered on a circuit board of the electronic device, and then inversely folded toward the mounting portion to engage with the operating body. However, the above assembly process makes it difficult to mount the flexible board onto the mounting portion. In addition, because the mounting portion is made of plastic material, for being integrally formed with a housing of the electronic device, the static electricity generated during use of the side-buttons may cause electrical interference for the electronic devices.
Therefore, a new key button mechanism and an electronic device equipped with the key button mechanism are desired in order to overcome the above-described problems.